How to Create Your Bucket List

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Terri Lyon

The Activist for Activists. Author of Make a Difference with Mental Health Activism and The Happy Activist: Journey the 5-Step Activism Path to Focus Your Passion and Change the World. Teacher, Psychologist, Environmental Activist, Animal Lover.

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Last Updated on August 21, 2025

Jenna gasps as the firefly blinks. And soon other lights join the first until it seems like a Christmas show. Darkness descends again. Then, like fans in a football stadium, the fireflies light in a wave across the hillside. And, finally, the fireflies flash together, in nature’s ultimate light show.

It wasn’t easy to get to this synchronous firefly show at a campground in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Because the synchronous fireflies are so famous, the rangers provide access to the area only by lottery. But Jenna put this on her bucket list last year, and it made it into her schedule. She was rewarded with tickets in the lottery and an experience she’ll never forget.

What Is a Bucket List?

A bucket list has the experiences you wish to have before you die, or ‘kick the bucket.’ For example, a typical list might include items such as ‘visit all the National Parks’ or ‘drive a race car.’ The creation of this list is the first step toward making them happen.

How to Create Your Bucket List

Start with dreaming big. Let your wishes come to you without any evaluation. It might be easier to do this in a place with no distractions. Challenge yourself to make your list at least 100 items long. Then, consider setting it aside and adding more another time.

If you want to get inspired by other people’s bucket list items, check out this article, which has items by category.

Whittle out the Impossible

When you are having trouble thinking of more items, you can start the evaluation process. Take off things that are impossible to fulfill. For example, I’d like to go on a space mission, but at my age, this is impossible. For a young person, that may not be the case.

Be careful, though, that you don’t delete items that are unlikely rather than impossible. If you have always wanted to go to Germany but can’t afford it, leave it on the list. Perhaps there are ways that you can save up and eventually take the trip. Or consider other ways you can get to Germany, such as on a volunteer vacation.

Make Your Bucket List Specific

Jenna’s wish to see the fireflies became more concrete when she put it on her bucket list.

Bucket lists are useful because they have goals. And because our bucket list experiences motivate us, they tend to be specific. Rather than vague wishes such as “Before I die I’d like to travel,” bucket lists have vivid and concrete goals like, “Before I die, I will travel to Paris, sit in cafes and people-watch, take pictures from the top of the Eiffel Tower, then follow the Tour de France from start to finish.”

Check out my post on SMART goals and consider using this approach for your top bucket list items. The SMART acronym stands for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and timely.

• Specific: Be clear about the behavior you will perform.
• Measurable: Make it specific enough that you can measure whether you accomplished it.
• Achievable: Make sure your behavior can be achieved.
• Relevant: Ensure your behavior moves you forward.
• Timely: List when you will perform this action.

Revisit Your Bucket List – Because You Change

I didn’t have a list when I was young, but I suspect if I had, it would look different than my current one. Perhaps dreamier! I’m sure it would include travel experiences because that has been a lifelong passion. Growing my food and being as self-sustainable as possible has been important all my life. But, in other ways, I’ve changed. For example, back then, I wasn’t into mindfulness at all, but now one of my items is to take a meditation retreat.

How often do you think you should check and perhaps update your list? I find that once a year works for me.

Activism Bucket Lists

Your bucket list has experiences that matter to you. In fact, they matter so much that you are saying they are essential to your life experiences. You are motivated and passionate – so use them in your activism.

Use Your Items for Good

Look for activism inspiration on your list, even though it holds items with no relationship to activism. But bear with me, because your list is integral to finding your activism passion.

There are ways to incorporate your bucket list into your activism. For example, if you have bungee jumping on your list, brainstorm ways you can use it for your cause. Get sponsors for your jump; it will motivate you.

Activism Items

If you’ve spent time on your life vision, it should be natural to add activism experiences to your bucket list. Your bucket list focuses on wants, though, so how does a bucket list relate to making a difference?

“A bucket list can also be an attempt to make life meaningful, depending of course on the specific items. Many of the bucket lists I read contained items that struck me as narcissistic (e.g., get a tattoo), but some did not. These lists contained items that would connect people to something larger than themselves, typically other people and their welfare (e.g., take the entire family on a cruise). Positive psychology research suggests that the latter items are more important for a fulfilled life.” Christopher Peterson

Summary

Technically, Jenna can cross ‘watching the synchronous fireflies’ off her bucket list, but it was so mesmerizing she’ll likely try for the experience again. But this time, she is going to bring people from the local nursing home who have this on their bucket lists, too.

Resources

How to create a vision of a joyful life

The Ultimate Bucket List Resource Guide

The 5-Step Activism Workbook contains surveys, checklists, and reflections designed to help you envision your ideal life.

Watch a video of synchronous fireflies

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